Instant message user management

ABSTRACT

Techniques are disclosed for improving management of user information in instant messaging systems. Expiration criteria are defined, whereby one or more users or user groups may be considered as having “expired” from consideration by instant messaging functions such as presence determination. In particular, instant messaging activity is preferably used as an expiration criterion. Absence of inbound or outbound messages for a specified amount of time (or since a particular date/time) can therefore be used as a trigger for treating a user or group of users as expired. As a result, efficiency of an instant messaging system is improved by omitting the expired users and groups from subsequent management operations. Optionally, an expired user or group may be revived upon occurrence of certain events (such as a newly-arriving instant message from, or a change in presence status of, the user or group).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to computer software, and deals moreparticularly with techniques for managing user information in instantmessaging systems.

Description of the Related Art

Instant messaging systems are a popular communications mechanism formany people, and provide for instant, real-time communication betweenusers who are connected to the system through an on-line or electronicnetworking environment such as the Internet, World Wide Web(hereinafter, “Web”), or corporate internal intranets. Examples ofinstant messaging systems include Yahoo!® Messenger, AOL InstantMessenger^(SM), and Lotus Instant Messaging and Web Conferencing.(“Yahoo!” is a registered trademark of Yahoo! Inc. and “AOL InstantMessenger” is a service mark of America Online, Inc.)

Instant messaging systems provide real-time awareness of who is loggedon. Typically, an instant messaging (hereinafter, “IM”) system user hasan address book or “buddy list” containing names or nicknames for thosepeople with whom he communicates. The entries in this address book areused for selecting a message recipient. In addition, the IM system(“IMS”) typically indicates, using a visual cue (such as different iconsor different fonts), which of the people in the address book are loggedon to the system and which are not. When the message sender and thetarget recipient are both currently logged on to an IMS (which may bethe same IMS, or a different IMS), a message can be delivered andpresented to the recipient nearly instantly (depending on networkdelay).

Instant messaging systems are often used for communicating amongfriends, and are also becoming integral business tools that enable teammembers or other business associates to communicate more efficiently andeffectively (e.g., as they collaborate on a project).

An IMS user may also have user groups defined in his address book, wherea user group comprises individual users (each of whom may also have aseparate entry in the address book) and, optionally, other groups. Overtime, as a user adds more and more people (or groups) to his addressbook, a situation arises where a number of these people/groups will notactually engage in IM sessions with the user in the near term (where“near term” may be defined in various ways, including this week, thismonth, this year, etc.). For example, a user “Joe” may have 300 entriesin his IM address book, whereas he only engages in IM sessions on aweekly basis with 5 of these people.

In current IM systems, an IM server manages functions, such as“presence” detection, of the address book equivalently for all users.“Presence”, for an IMS, is the function whereby the IM display for auser such as Joe is dynamically updated to indicate which users fromJoe's address book are currently online (and are therefore available forparticipating in an IM session). As can be imagined, as Joe's addressbook grows larger over time, the amount of system resources expended inperforming management functions such as presence increases. The presencefunction, for example, is typically notified when a user's IM clientcomes online, and this presence function then notifies other IM users ofthe new client presence. When a user's IM client becomes inactive,enters a “do not disturb” state, or goes offline, it sends a message tothe presence server, which in turn communicates that information toother IM users. In a situation such as the example described above,where Joe only interacts with 5 users but has 300 entries in his addressbook, a very unproductive use of resources results due to current IMservers managing functions (such as presence) of all these users. Theoverall efficiency of the IM server is seriously degraded when there area number of users in this same situation.

One solution to this problem would be for Joe to simply delete users orgroups from his address book, as he finds he does not interact with themfrequently. However, if he subsequently wishes to engage in an IMsession with a deleted user or group, he will need to manually re-entertheir information into his address book. Re-entering information istime-consuming, and therefore most users do not find this approachacceptable.

Accordingly, what is needed are improvements to the management of userinformation in IM systems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide techniques forimproving the management of user information in IM systems.

Another object of the present invention is to provide techniques wherebyuser entries in an IM address book can be treated as “expired”, withoutactually deleting those entries.

A further object of the present invention is to provide techniques formanaging expired IM address book entries differently from non-expiredentries to thereby improve efficiency of an IMS.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be set forthin part in the description and in the drawings which follow and, inpart, will be obvious from the description or may be learned by practiceof the invention.

To achieve the foregoing objects, and in accordance with the purpose ofthe invention as broadly described herein, the present invention may beprovided as methods, systems, and/or computer program products. In oneaspect, the present invention comprises techniques for managing userinformation in an IMS by: determining, for an IM client that is operablyconnected to the IM system, whether any of a plurality of usersremembered for the IM client should be treated as expired due to absenceof communication with the IM client; and performing a presence detectionfunction of the IM system to determine current presence status on behalfof the IM client. The latter preferably comprises: for each one of theplurality of users for whom the determining determines that the user isto be treated as expired, omitting this user as a remembered user whenthe presence detection function determines the current presence status,but not deleting this user from the plurality of users remembered forthe IM client; and including all others of the plurality of users asremembered users when the presence detection function determines thecurrent presence status.

The determination preferably further comprises using expiration criteriaselected by a user of the IM client. This determination may comprise oneor more of: comparing a first date when an instant message last arrivedfrom a particular user to a second date selected by a user of the IMclient; determining whether an instant message last arrived from aparticular user more than a specified length of time before the currenttime; comparing a first date when an instant message was last sent by auser of the IM client to a particular user to a second date selected bythe IM client user; and determining whether an instant message was lastsent by a user of the IM client user to a particular user more than aspecified length of time before the current time.

The determination may be triggered in several ways, including byscheduling an action to analyze expiration information for eachpresently-unexpired user; performing the evaluation of eachpresently-unexpired user at configured intervals; and/or by schedulingan expiration action for each of one or more users, where each user willthen be treated as expired upon execution of the scheduled expirationaction for that user.

Optionally, the determination may further comprise selecting, by a userof the IM client, one or more users that will then be automaticallytreated as currently expired.

The determination and the omitting may also be performed for user groupsremembered by the IM client.

The determination may use default expiration criteria, and a user of theIM client may be allowed to selectively override the default expirationcriteria.

This aspect may further comprise receiving an inbound message from aparticular user who is being treated as expired, and then treating theparticular user as no longer expired, responsive to the receiving. Inaddition or instead, this aspect may further comprise sending anoutbound message from the IM client to a particular user who is beingtreated as expired, and then treating the particular user as no longerexpired, responsive to the sending.

A distinct visual indicator is preferably used for those users who arebeing treated as expired when presenting those users' names on a displayto a user of the IM client. The users remembered by the IM client arepreferably those users having entries in an address book used by the IMclient.

In another aspect, the present invention provides techniques formanaging user information in an IMS, comprising: evaluating, for an IMclient that is operably connected to the IM system, which of a pluralityof users remembered for the IM client are to be treated as expired butnot deleted from the plurality of remembered users; performing an IMpresence detection function of the IM system to determine currentpresence status on behalf of the IM client; and providing, for the IMclient, a visual indication for each of the plurality of rememberedusers, where each one of the plurality of remembered users that are tobe treated as expired but not deleted from the plurality of rememberedusers is visually indicated differently from the all other ones of theplurality of users remembered for the IM client. Performing the IMpresence detection function preferably further comprises: omitting eachof the remembered users that are to be treated as expired as aremembered user when the presence detection function determines thecurrent presence status, but not deleting the each of the remembersusers that are to be treated as expired from the plurality of rememberedusers; and including all others of the plurality of users remembered forthe IM client as remembered users when the presence detection functiondetermines the current presence status.

The different visual representation may, for example, comprise using anitalicized font when displaying names or nicknames of the rememberedusers who are to be treated as expired, as contrasted to anon-italicized font used when displaying names or nicknames of theremembered users who are not to be treated as expired. In addition orinstead, the different visual representation may comprise omitting thenames or nicknames of the remembered users who are to be treated asexpired when displaying the IM client display to the IM client user.

The present invention may also be used advantageously in methods ofdoing business, for example by providing improved management of users inan IMS. This may comprise: evaluating, for an IM client, which of theusers remembered by the IM client should be treated as expired;providing, for the IM client, an indication for those users which are tobe treated as expired; and charging a fee for carrying out theevaluation and providing the indication. The fee for this improvedmanagement may be collected under various revenue models, such aspay-per-use billing, monthly or other periodic billing, and so forth.

The present invention will now be described with reference to thefollowing drawings, in which like reference numbers denote the sameelement throughout.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 provides a sample graphical user interface (“GUI”) display of anIM system, indicating current presence information for users and groupsdefined in an IM address book, according to the prior art;

FIG. 2 illustrates a sample GUI display that may be used to specifydefault auto-expiration information, according to preferred embodiments;

FIG. 3 illustrates the GUI display of FIG. 1 as augmented, according topreferred embodiments of the present invention, to indicate expirationof users and user groups;

FIG. 4 illustrates a sample data structure that may be used to recordexpiration information for users and user groups in an IMS, according topreferred embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 5 provides a sample GUI display illustrating how an IM user mayselectively display and modify expiration information, according topreferred embodiments of the present invention; and

FIGS. 6-8 provide flowcharts illustrating logic that may be used whenimplementing preferred embodiments of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention provides techniques for improving the managementof user information in IM systems. One or more users or user groups may“expire” from a particular IM client user's perspective. When a user oruser group has expired, the IMS no longer includes that user or group inthe management functions it performs for that particular IM client user.As a result, unproductive overhead is reduced and the overall efficiencyof the IMS may be significantly improved.

The sample GUI display 100 in FIG. 1 represents an IM client display ofthe prior art, where the address book for the user of this IM client hasentries for a number of users and user groups and the display 100indicates the current online presence of these users and user groups(shown generally at 110). In particular, users Ann and Don are definedindividually (that is, without being defined as group members), andgroups named “Friends” and “Garden Club” are defined. See elements 120,121, 130, and 140, respectively. As shown in FIG. 1, different graphicalsymbols (and, typically, different colors) are used to indicate the IMstatus of each user. In this example display 100, squares to the left ofuser nicknames represent those users who are currently online andcircles to the left of user nicknames represent users who are notcurrently online. In this example, the current IM status for the personusing this IM client is also shown (see element 150), and is shown as“active”, and a drop-down list is provided (see element 151) whereby theuser can select an alternate IM status. Alternate choices for IM statusare shown at element 160, and include choices of “DND” (for “do notdisturb”) and “Away”.

According to preferred embodiments, users and groups expireautomatically when expiration criteria are met. This automaticexpiration is also referred to herein as the “auto-expire” or“auto-expiration” of users or groups. In addition, a user may explicitlyforce selected users or user groups into an expired status. This is alsoreferred to herein as “on-demand expiration”. The manner in which theseoperations are performed in preferred embodiments will now be describedin more detail.

Preferably, a set of default auto-expiration information is defined atthe level of an individual IM client user, and the IM client user isallowed to override these default values for selected users and/orgroups in the IM client user's address book. Or, if default values arenot provided, the IM client user is allowed to configure his IM clientwith a set of default values. (A data structure that may be used torecord information used for expiration of users and groups is describedbelow, with reference to FIG. 4.) For ease of reference, the term“configuring” the auto-expiration values is used herein to refer to theprocess whereby an IM user either configures, or overrides, the defaultsthat apply to all users and groups.

According to preferred embodiments, the expiration of users and groupsfrom one IM user's perspective preferably has no effect on the status ofthose users or groups in the IM client of another user. For example, ifa user “Bob” meets the auto-expiration criteria for Joe's IM client,this has no impact on how Bob is represented in any other IM user'sclient.

FIG. 2 illustrates a sample GUI display 200 with which an IM user mayconfigure the default values for auto-expiration information. As showntherein, different values may be used for inbound auto-expiration andfor outbound auto-expiration. See, generally, elements 210 and 250.

An auto-expiration value may be specified as a relative value or anabsolute value. An inbound auto-expiration value may be specified as arelative value by selecting a particular period of time, as shown at211. Suppose, for example, that Joe selects an inbound auto-expirationvalue of 3 months. This selection indicates that a user should beautomatically expired from Joe's address book if no inbound IM messageis received from that user within the most recent 3 months. Thisprovides a “sliding expiration date” approach, whereby auto-expirationdecisions are made by looking backwards from the current date to see ifthere has been any IM activity with the user during the applicable timeperiod. For example, if Joe's auto-expiration value for inbound messagesis 3 months, and a message last arrived from Jane on Jul. 30, 2003, thenJane will be automatically expired unless she sends a new message beforeOct. 30, 2003. Suppose Jane does send a new message on Oct. 1, 2003. Inthis case, her auto-expiration date will be automatically changed toJan. 1, 2004.

As an alternative to the sliding-date approach, an implementation mayuse the entries at element 211 of FIG. 2 (and, similarly, the outboundinformation entered at element 251) to statically compute anauto-expiration date as a fixed offset from the current date. In thisalternative approach, a one-time check of IM activity is performed onthe potential auto-expiration date for a potentially-expiring user. Forexample, if Joe enters an auto-expiration value of 3 months at element211, this alternative implementation adds 3 months to the current dateand stores the result as the date on which a user's activity will beevaluated. In contrast to the sliding-date approach, receiving a newmessage from a user does not reset the auto-expiration date in thisalternative approach. To illustrate this alternative approach in moredetail, suppose Joe selects a 3-month expiration interval on Aug. 1,2003. The auto-expiration date will then be set to Nov. 1, 2003. On thatdate, Jane's IM activity will be evaluated. Suppose a message lastarrived from Jane on Jul. 30, 2003. Jane will be automatically expiredduring the November 1st evaluation, since her most-recent message ismore than 3 months old. However, if Jane's message had arrived on Aug.2, 2003 instead, then the November 1st evaluation would leave Jane as anunexpired user. No further auto-expiration evaluations would beperformed for Jane (in terms of inbound messages), unless Joe took anaction to enter new auto-expiration information.

When an inbound auto-expiration value specified in terms of a timeperiod is applied to a user group, the user group is automaticallyexpired when an inbound IM message has not been received from any of thegroup members in the specified time period.

While FIG. 2 illustrates use of radio buttons to select a unit of timeand a dialog box for entering the number of time units at element 211,it will be obvious that this information may be provided in other ways.For example, a drop-down list of time units could be provided, fromwhich the IM user can then make a selection. The IM user may also beallowed to define a time period using more than one time unit, althoughthis has not been shown. For example, Joe might define a time period as2 months, 3 weeks, and 5 days. Furthermore, it is not strictly necessarythat a GUI display is provided for this configuration process. Forexample, the auto-expiration information stored in a file may be editedwith a simple text editor to provide user-configurable expirationsettings, without deviating from the scope of the present invention.

As an alternative to using a relative period of time as has beendescribed with reference to element 211, an inbound auto-expirationvalue may be specified as an absolute value, for example by selecting aparticular calendar date. This is illustrated in FIG. 2 at element 212.Entry fields may be provided for entering the month, day, and year, or acalendar icon may be provided with which the user can display a calendarfor the purpose of selecting an auto-expiration date. In preferredembodiments, when a calendar date is used for the inboundauto-expiration value, users and groups will be automatically expired ifno inbound IM message arrives from those users or groups after theselected date.

Use of absolute expiration dates may, in some cases, result in new usersbeing instantly expired. For example, if Joe sets an auto-expirationdate of Feb. 1, 2003, then any new entries he creates in his addressbook after that time will be instantly expired (since the expirationdate has passed).

Preferably, when a user or group is expired, in addition to omittingthat user or group when performing management functions (as discussedabove), a visual representation of that user or group on the IM clientdisplay is distinct from the visual representations of unexpired usersand groups. The IM client display thereby provides a quick andeasy-to-use presentation of expiration information (in addition to thepresence information provided by prior art IM systems).

Preferred embodiments are described herein with reference to usingitalicization to visually indicate those users and groups that haveexpired (although this is by way of illustration, and not oflimitation). In preferred embodiments, the expired users and groups arepresented on the IM client display in the same relative locations wherethey appear when using a prior art IM client display, but the user nameor group name of each expired user and group is presented in anitalicized font. This is illustrated in FIG. 3, where italics indicatevisually that Ann 320 is expired; Ellen 332 from the Friends group 330is expired; and the entire Garden Club group 340 and its members Bob341, Ellen 342, and Grace 343 are also expired. (The user or group“name” may actually be a nickname for the user or group.)

Note that, in this example display 300, the typical icons that indicatepresence have also been removed for these expired users and group, sincethe expired status indicates that the IMS should no longer check theirpresence. Alternatively, a specific icon that is designed to indicatethe expired status may be displayed. Particular colors may also be usedto indicate those users and group which are expired. Referring again toFIG. 2, element 220 shows generally that the IM user may optionally beallowed to select additional (or different) visual indicators ofexpiration. As shown therein at 221, the user may be allowed to specifya particular color to be used for the icon associated with expired usersand groups. In addition, the user may be allowed to select a foregroundtext color and background text color to be used when displaying thenames of expired users and user groups, as shown at elements 222 and223, respectively.

A number of optional functions may also be supported by animplementation of the present invention, and the IM user may be allowedto configure these functions. Representative functions are showngenerally at elements 230 and 240, and will now be described.

Optionally, expired users and groups may be automatically moved to aselected folder, as shown by the configurable option at element 231. Inthis case, the IM user can display the folder contents for anat-a-glance view of which users and groups are expired. Those expiredusers and groups are then preferably removed from the IMS display ofunexpired users, which allows the IM client user to see a less-clutteredview.

In the general case, expired users and groups are not actually deletedfrom the IM user's address book. This approach is useful in case theuser or group subsequently becomes active again, in which case the IMuser does not need to re-enter information into his address book. Anoption may be provided, however, that allows a particular IM user tospecify that expired users and groups should be deleted. This option isshown at element 232 of FIG. 2 (for the inbound case).

Users may also be allowed to selectively enable the expiration function.Elements 233 and 234 are provided in the example configuration display200 for this purpose (for the inbound case), whereby the IM user canseparately enable the expiration function as applied to users and togroups.

If an inbound IM message arrives from an expired user or group, animplementation of the present invention may optionally be adapted forautomatically “reviving” that user or group. Or, the IM user may beallowed to selectively enable this revival function. In the latter case,the user may be allowed to enable the revival function separately forindividual users and for groups, as shown at elements 235 and 236 (forthe inbound case). When a user is revived, the auto-expiration value forthat user is preferably automatically set to the default value (e.g., adefault time period as specified at element 211 or a fixed date asspecified at element 212). Similarly, when a user group is revived, theauto-expiration value for each user is preferably automatically set tothe default value.

An option may also be provided whereby the IM user can set the “lastinbound date” to the current time, as shown at element 240 (for theinbound case). For example, if IM user Joe last received an inboundmessage from Sally on Apr. 1, 2003 but selects this option as of Oct. 1,2003, then Sally's information will record that a message from Sally wasreceived on Oct. 1, 2003.

As another example of using the box shown at element 240, suppose Joehas configured an auto-expiration interval of 4 months, and that amessage was last received from Sam on Jan. 1, 2003. The auto-expirationdate for Sam is therefore May 1, 2003. Now suppose that on Feb. 1, 2003,Joe decides to change Sam's auto-expiration interval to 2 months insteadof 4. Since the last message received from Sam was January 1st, Sam'sauto-expiration date will then be Mar. 1, 2003. However, Joe may electto check the “Set last inbound date to current time” box 240. In thatcase, Sam's information will be changed to reflect arrival of a messageon February 1st, and his new auto-expiration date will then be Apr. 1,2003.

If a user changes auto-expiration values, this may cause instantexpirations in some cases. For example, with reference to the scenariojust described, if Joe changes Sam's auto-expiration interval to 2months on Mar. 15, 2003 (but does not use box 240 to change last-arrivalinformation), then Sam will be instantly expired.

Note that an implementation of the present invention may use the time,as well as the date, when determining expiration. Therefore, omission oftime-of-day considerations in the examples discussed herein is not byway of limitation.

Outbound auto-expiration information may be specified in a similarmanner to specification of inbound information. Thus, element 250 ofFIG. 2 generally provides analogous information to element 210, andelement 260 provides analogous information to element 240. As an exampleof using an outbound auto-expiration time period, suppose that Joeselects an outbound auto-expiration value of 2 weeks. This selectionindicates that a user should be automatically expired from Joe's addressbook if Joe has not sent an IM message to that user in the past 2 weeks.Similarly, a user group should be automatically expired if Joe has notsent an IM message to any member of that group in the past 2 weeks. Or,when an outbound auto-expiration value is specified in terms of a fixeddate, the user or user group is automatically expired if no outbound IMmessage has been sent to that user or to any member of the user groupsince before the specified date.

Note that options have not been provided in FIG. 2 for reviving usersand user groups when a new outbound message is sent to analready-expired user or user group. If desired, this function may beprovided for outbound auto-expiration in a similar manner to thatdescribed above for revival due to inbound messages.

Turning now to FIG. 4, a sample data structure is depicted that may beused to record expiration information for users and user groups in anIMS, according to preferred embodiments. This data structure is referredto herein by way of illustration, but not of limitation, as a table. Asshown in FIG. 4, table 400 includes columns that record the user or usergroup identifier 410 (and/or the nickname), the date 420 when an IMmessage was last sent to this user or group (i.e., the last outboundmessage date), the outbound auto-expiration value 430 to be applied tothis user or group, the date 420 when an IM message was last receivedfrom this user or group (i.e., the last inbound message date), theinbound auto-expiration value 450 to be applied to this user or group,and the expiration status 460 of this user or group. While thisinformation is described herein with reference to a data structure usedsolely for expiration information, it is to be understood that an actualimplementation of the present invention may provide expiration inventionby augmenting entries in an already-existing address book or similardata structure. Furthermore, a number of different formats may be usedwith the expiration information, without deviating from the inventiveconcepts of the present invention. For example, columns 420 and/or 440may represent their values using time of day in addition to, or insteador, a calendar date (and any suitable format for representing date andtime information may be used).

The row 470 for user Ann, for example, indicates that Joe last sent anIM message to Ann on Jan. 1, 2003 (column 420), and also last received amessage from Ann on that same date (column 440). An auto-expiration timefor outbound messages (column 430) is set to 6 months for this user, andthis same auto-expiration time is used for inbound messages (column450). Assuming that the current date is more than 6 months later thanJan. 1, 2003, the expiration status (column 460) for Ann is set to“expired”. The row 472 for user Carol, on the other hand, indicates thatCarol's expiration status is “active” (column 460). This row furtherindicates that Joe last sent an IM message to Carol on Aug. 1, 2003(column 420), and last received a message from Carol on Aug. 2, 2003(column 440). Carol's auto-expiration time for outbound messages (column430) is set to 3 weeks, as is her auto-expiration time for inboundmessages (column 450). Assuming that the current date is less than 3weeks after the dates of Aug. 1, 2003 and Aug. 2, 2003, Carol is anactive user.

When different values are specified for the outbound auto-expiration andthe inbound auto-expiration, an implementation of the present inventionpreferably uses the first-occurring one of these two dates whendetermining whether a particular user or user group has expired.Alternatively, a single value that applies to both inbound and outboundauto-expiration may be used without deviating from the scope of thepresent invention. In this latter case, columns 430 and 450 are replacedby a single auto-expiration column, and that single value is used todetermine whether a user or group has expired. Or, a user may configurehis implementation so that either an inbound date or an outbound date,but not both, is evaluated. (See the discussion of elements 233 and 234of FIG. 2, above.)

If the IM user changes the inbound and/or outbound auto-expirationvalues once entries such as those depicted in table 400 are alreadycreated, for example by entering a new time period at element 211 ofFIG. 2 or a new fixed date at element 212, then all table entries may beupdated automatically and immediately. Or, an implementation of thepresent invention may be adapted for automatically applying the newdefault values only to newly-created table entries. As another approach,discussed below with reference to the “Reset” function, the IM clientuser may selectively apply new default values to individual users andgroups. In any case, when new auto-expiration values are to be appliedto entries in table 400, the corresponding column 430 or 450 ispreferably overridden with the new value.

The auto-expiration values may be checked, for each unexpired user andgroup, by scheduling an evaluation action or event with a taskscheduler, such that the evaluation will occur on a certain date. Whenthe scheduled evaluation event is performed, any entries meeting theirauto-expiration criteria will then be marked as expired. As anotheralternative, instead of scheduling an auto-expiration evaluation event,the checking of auto-expiration values may be performed periodically,e.g., at some configurable interval (such as monthly) or upon occurrenceof some event (where the user may be allowed to specify the triggeringevent or events). (Another alternative that uses a task scheduler forscheduling auto-expiration events for IM users directly, rather thanscheduling evaluation events, is described below prior to the discussionof FIG. 5.) The checking that is performed when messages are sent andreceived is described below, prior to the discussion of FIG. 5, and isnot limited to unexpired users and groups. FIG. 6, described below,provides logic that may be used to implement the auto-expirationevaluation (i.e, checking for expiration), and FIGS. 7 and 8 providelogic that may be used to implement expiration processing for outboundand inbound messages, respectively. The manner in which the checkingprocess is carried out depends on whether a “sliding date” approach asdescribed above with reference to a relative time period or a fixed date(including an absolute date specified in the manner described withreference to element 212 of FIG. 2 or a relative date implemented usingthe “alternative approach” described above with reference to element 211of FIG. 2, where an auto-expiration date is statically computed as afixed offset from the current date) is specified for the auto-expirationvalues. When a sliding date approach is used, the checking performed foreach unexpired user preferably comprises first adding the outboundauto-expiration value (column 430) to the date an outbound IM messagewas last sent (column 420) to this user, and comparing the result to thecurrent date. Next, a comparison is made by adding the inboundauto-expiration value (column 450) to the date an inbound IM message waslast received (column 440) from this user and comparing the result tothe current date. Similarly, when a fixed date is used, the outboundauto-expiration value (column 430) is compared to the date an outboundIM message was last sent to this user (column 420) and the inboundauto-expiration date (column 450) is compared to the date an inbound IMmessage was last received from this user (column 440).

User groups may have rows in table 400, as shown at 476 and 478. Thegroup row preferably comprises the dates messages were last receivedfrom, and sent to, any member of this group, along with the group-levelauto-expiration values. A group expiration status is also stored. As analternative to including a row in table 400 for each group, the tablemay be limited to rows for individual users, in which case a separatedata structure may be used to record the group names and to rememberwhich users are members of each group. In this case, if the separategroup-level data structure is not adapted for recording the last-sentand last-received information for the group, that information ispreferably re-computed each time the auto-expiration checking is carriedout by evaluating each unexpired user who is a group member.

When rows for groups are present in table 400, a pointer, linked list,or similar reference (not shown in FIG. 4) may be provided in the grouprow for identifying the group members (and/or for pointing to eachmember's row in the table). In this manner, duplicated rows are avoidedwhen a user is a member of multiple groups. For example, user Ellen isshown at elements 332 and 342 of FIG. 3 as being a member of the“Friends” group and the “Garden Club” group. Providing a reference fromeach group to Ellen's individual row 474 allows both groups to sharethis single set of information. Alternatively, the group memberinformation may be repeated in each applicable group (e.g., by using anested structure wherein rows for each group member are placed within acollection of rows which are associated with the group), withoutdeviating from the scope of the present invention.

When an outbound message is sent to a target user, an embodiment of thepresent invention preferably locates that user's row in table 400 andrevises the date-last-sent value in column 420. If this target user(i.e., recipient) is a member of one or more groups, then the value ofcolumn 420 in the row for each group is updated as well. When Joe sendsa message to a group, the date-last-sent value in column 420 of thatgroup's row is updated, and the row for each group member is preferablyupdated as well. Similarly, when Joe receives an inbound message fromany user, the date-last-received value in column 440 is revised, and therow for any group in which this user is a member is also preferablyrevised. (FIGS. 7 and 8, described below, provide logic that may be usedwhen implementing these operations.) After revising a user or group'srow, if the expiration status for that row is set to expired, it ispreferably changed to active. (If the IM user has not selected to usethe automatic revival functions as described with reference to elements235 and 236 of FIG. 2, however, the status updating in response to aninbound message is preferably bypassed.)

In another approach, a task scheduler is used for schedulingauto-expiration events. That is, rather than scheduling an evaluationevent to analyze stored dates as described above, these scheduledauto-expiration events result in automatically expiring an IM user whenthe event is triggered or “fires”. These auto-expiration events may bescheduled in several different ways, including upon addition of a new IMuser (e.g., in a buddy list or address book), manual action by the enduser, and occurrence of IM actions such as receiving an inbound instantmessage or sending an outbound instant message.

Suppose, for example, that a new IM user “Paul” is defined for Joe's IMsystem, in which default auto-expiration is currently set to 2 months.If the user definition occurs on June 1st, then an auto-expiration eventwill be automatically scheduled with the task scheduler for August 1st.If the event fires on that date, then Paul is set to expired status.Next, suppose that on July 1st, Joe decides to change Paul'sauto-expiration interval to 10 days instead of 2 months. An embodimentof the present invention using this approach then programmaticallysearches through the task scheduler's scheduled events until locatingthe auto-expiration event associated with Paul. Upon finding thisscheduled event, the date is changed (or this existing event is deletedand a new event is created), such that the auto-expiration event forPaul will now fire on July 11th.

Using this approach for the general case, before a scheduled event dateis changed, the new date is preferably compared to the stored date (iffound), and the scheduled event date is then set to the new date only ifthe new date is earlier than the stored date (or there is no storeddate). Scheduled event dates set to past dates will immediately triggerthe event.

As another example, updating the scheduled auto-expiration event in thismanner may be triggered by receipt of a new instant message from Paul.If Joe has configured his IM client to automatically expire other IMusers if no messages are received within 3 months, for example, theneach time an inbound instant message arrives from a particular user, thetask scheduler's events are preferably scanned to locate anyalready-scheduled auto-expiration event for that user. Upon locating anevent, it is updated or replaced, as just discussed, such that the eventwill now fire in 3 months time.

As yet another example, Joe might use a GUI display such as display 200in FIG. 2 to reset the last message received/sent date for selectedusers. If the last inbound instant message from Paul was July 1st andusers are to expire if there is no inbound activity for 3 months, anauto-expiration event will be scheduled for October 1st. Suppose that onSeptember 15th, Joe decides he does not want Paul to be an expired useron the scheduled date. Joe might elect to check the “Set last inbounddate to current time” box 240 in display 200. In that case, the taskscheduler's scheduled events will be scanned to locate the eventassociated with Paul, and that event will be revised/replaced such thatthe auto-expiration event is now scheduled to fire on December 15th.

A task scheduler's auto-expiration events may be scheduled and/oraltered responsive to other types of actions or other triggering events,and thus these examples are presented by way of illustration but not oflimitation.

Turning now to FIG. 5, a sample GUI display 500 is provided thatillustrates an optional aspect of preferred embodiments, whereby an IMuser may modify auto-expiration information for selected users and/oruser groups. As shown therein, the IM user first selects the user orgroup of interest, for example by selecting the user or group name froma drop-down list 510 that provides all of the names in the IM user'saddress book. After having made this selection, an implementation of thepresent invention preferably displays the date an IM message was lastreceived from this user/group and the date an IM message was last sentto this user/group (at elements 520 and 530, respectively). The currentauto-expiration values for this user or group are also preferablydisplayed at elements 521 and 531.

If this user/group is not currently expired, then the projected datewhen the user or group will expire is preferably shown in FIG. 5. In theexample, separate projected expiration date areas are shown at 522 and532. As noted above with reference to columns 430 and 450 of FIG. 5,when different auto-expiration dates are specified for outbound andinbound messages, then the user is preferably auto-expired using thefirst-occurring one of these dates. For example, suppose theauto-expiration date for inbound messages from Mary is Feb. 1, 2003 andthe auto-expiration date for outbound messages to Mary is Feb. 5, 2003.If no messages are exchanged with Mary, then an implementation of thepresent invention preferably auto-expires Mary on February 1st. A singleprojected expiration date can be presented on display 500 to reflectthis information (although this has not been shown in the exampledisplay 500). Alternatively, the February 1st auto-expiration for Marycan be disabled by selecting her entry as described above and thentoggling the “Enable inbound expiration for users” setting to OFF. Thissetting was described above with reference to element 233 of FIG. 2 forglobal defaults. A similar user-specific setting is preferably providedon a display such as that shown in FIG. 5, although it has not beenillustrated in this example display 500.

On the other hand, if the user/group has already expired, then the dateof expiration may be shown at element 522 and/or 532.

The IM user is preferably allowed to change the auto-expiration valuefor either or both of the inbound and outbound cases. While display 500shows a simple dialog box at elements 521 and 531 as being used for thispurpose, this choice of entry mechanism is for drafting convenience. Anactual implementation preferably provides options such as those shown at211 and 212 of FIG. 2 (whereby the user can specify a numeric value fora relative expiration and then select a radio button to indicate thetime units, or can activate a calendar icon to pick an absolute date).After having specified a new auto-expiration value, the IM userpreferably presses a “Reset” button 525, 535, which causes the new valueto be applied to this user or group's row in table 400. Note that thevalue of the expiration status in column 460 is preferably recomputed atthis time as well. The use of “Revive” buttons 524, 534 will bedescribed below.

The auto-expiration of users and groups has been discussed heretoforewith reference to receiving and sending IM messages. In an optionalaspect, additional types of events may be used when determining the dateto be used in the auto-expiration computations. For example, Joe mayspecify that he is to be notified if user Ann becomes active (e.g., ifAnn's presence is detected by the presence function), and thisnotification may be used when determining auto-expiration status. One ormore additional columns may be added to table 400 to track the dates ofsuch events. As an alternative, the value in either column 420 or column440 may be updated upon occurrence of such events. For example, thedate-last-received value in column 440 of row 470 in Joe's table 400might be updated upon either (i) receiving an inbound message from Annor (ii) receiving notification that Ann is currently active for instantmessaging. Accordingly, this updated value may then be used insubsequent auto-expiration comparisons to determine Ann's expirationstatus.

An on-demand expiration function may also be provided, as noted earlier,whereby an IM user can selectively change the expiration status of usersand/or groups. With reference to display 300 of FIG. 3, for example, Joemay wish to treat Carol (see element 331) as an expired user. Joe mayinvoke the on-demand expiration function, for example, by right-clickinghis computer mouse when it is positioned over Carol's name. This selectsCarol's name, and a pop-up menu or similar facility is then preferablyactivated, providing a choice such as “Expire Now”. (The pop-up menufunction may be triggered in other ways, if desired, such as byproviding selections on a pull-down menu, providing one or more buttongraphics on the GUI, defining one or more function keys, and so forth.The term “pop-up menu” is used merely as one example.) The “Expire Now”choice may be accompanied by other choices such as “Configure ExpirationSettings”; “Reset Expiration Settings”; “Chat”; “Remove”; “EditNickname”; “Alert Me When”; and so forth. These choices will now bedescribed in more detail.

When the user selects “Expire Now” from the pop-up menu after havingselected a user or group name, the auto-expiration logic is triggered,and the relative and/or absolute dates existing in the table 400 areignored for the selected user or group. The user may have selected morethan one user and/or group, for example by using some type ofmulti-select capability, in which case the dates for all of the selectedentries from table 400 are ignored. Instead of using the dates fromtable 400, the expiration time for the selected entry or entries is setto the current date, and the expiration status (column 460) for eachsuch entry is automatically set to expired. When the on-demand function“Expire Now” is applied to a group, the entry for each group member intable 400 is revised accordingly. The newly-expired users and usergroups are then preferably depicted using a visual indicator such asitalicized font, a special icon, and/or special colors for theforeground and background text, as discussed above with reference toFIGS. 2 and 3. (The expired items may also be moved to a special folder,as discussed with reference to element 231 of FIG. 2.)

In an optional aspect, rather than automatically expiring the entry orentries when the user selects “Expire Now”, the automatic expiration maybe conditioned upon whether the IM user has configured his IM clientsuch that the expiration function is enabled for users and/or groups.Refer to the discussion of elements 233 and 234 of FIG. 2, above.

In one aspect, selecting “Configure Expiration Settings” from the pop-upmenu enables the IM user to configure expiration settings that applyglobally to all users and groups. In this case, a display such as thatshown in FIG. 2 is preferably presented, and is processed as has beendescribed with reference to FIG. 2. In another aspect, upon selecting“Configure Expiration Settings” from the pop-up menu, the selectionsmade will apply only to the user(s) and/or group(s) that were selectedwhen the pop-up menu was activated. A display similar to that shown inFIG. 5 may be presented for this purpose, allowing input for eachselected user and group. Or, the display may be specifically adapted forpresenting multiple users and groups. The processing of enteredinformation preferably proceeds as has been described with reference toupdates made using display 500 of FIG. 5.

Selecting “Reset Expiration Settings” from the pop-up menu preferablyenables the IM user to set new values for the default expirationsettings (e.g., using a display such as that shown in FIG. 2), butinstead of applying those new defaults to all users and groups (as hasbeen described with reference to FIG. 2), the new values are appliedselectively to only those users and groups that were selected when thepop-up menu was activated.

The pop-up menu choices “Chat”, “Remove”, and “Edit Nickname” preferablyinvoke IMS functions as in the prior art. That is, the “Chat” selectionpreferably triggers an IMS function for message creation, the “Remove”selection preferably enables the IM user to delete selected users anduser groups, and the “Edit Nickname” function allows the IM user tochange the nickname for one or more of the users or groups defined inhis IM address book. The “Alert Me When” function may proceed as in theprior art, whereby the IM user identifies criteria that comprise one ormore events for which this user wishes to be notified. According to anoptional aspect of the present invention, this “Alert Me When” functionmay also be used to define an event that, when triggered, provides anadditional date as input to the auto-expiration computations, as hasbeen discussed above.

Referring again to FIG. 5, the “Revive” buttons 524, 534 may be used toselectively revive a particular user or user group (for example, afterthe IM user chooses “Configure Expiration Settings” from the pop-upmenu). Revival may also occur in other ways, such as by receiving aninbound IM message from an expired user or group. This type of revivalwas discussed above, and may be made conditional on the IM user'sconfiguration choices. (See the discussion of elements 235 and 236 ofFIG. 2.) Revival may also be triggered when the IM user selects the“Reset Expiration Settings” choice from the pop-up menu, causing newexpiration status to be determined for selected users and/or groups. Asanother approach, a keystroke sequence such as double-clicking on a username or group name may be defined as causing newly-entered expirationdefaults to be applied to a particular user or user group.

Referring now to FIGS. 6-8, flowcharts are provided depicting logic thatmay be used when implementing preferred embodiments of the presentinvention. Each of these flowcharts will now be described.

FIG. 6 illustrates logic that may be used when implementing theauto-expiration evaluation or checking function. As stated earlier, thislogic is preferably invoked upon occurrence of a scheduledauto-expiration evaluation action or upon reaching a configured interval(which may be set, for example, to once-per-month). Preferably, eachunexpired entry is evaluated in turn at each such invocation. This maybe accomplished by iterating through the rows of table 400 and checkingwhether the current status for that row is set to “expired”. Block 600therefore indicates that the next unexpired entry is obtained, and atest is made at Block 610 to determine whether one was found. If thistest has a negative result, then the processing of the table iscomplete, and control exits from FIG. 6. Otherwise, processing continuesat Block 620.

Block 620 tests whether a sliding date approach is being used. As hasbeen discussed with reference to FIG. 4, separate auto-expiration valuesmay be specified for inbound messages and for outbound messages, or asingle value may be used for both cases. The processing has beengenerally described above, and thus for simplification, FIG. 6represents use of only a single value. Thus, when the test in Block 620has a negative result, then the auto-expiration value is a fixed date,and Block 630 compares that date to the date of the last message. Theterm “date of last message” is used in FIG. 6 as a shorthand referencethat should be construed as encompassing the “last-sent” value in column420 and the “last-received” value in column 440. And, as stated earlier,the term “date” is meant to include date and/or time, as appropriate.Therefore, after making the comparison in Block 630, Block 650 testswhether the last message is older than the fixed date. If so, then thisentry is expired, and control transfers to Block 670 where the entry ismarked with the expired status (column 460). Otherwise, when the test inBlock 650 has a negative result, control returns to Block 600 to obtainthe next unexpired entry from the table.

Control reaches Block 640 when a sliding date approach is being used.Block 640 adds the auto-expiration interval value to the last messagedate, as has been described above with reference to FIG. 4, and Block660 then checks to see if the result is earlier than the current date.If so, then this entry has expired, and it is marked accordingly inBlock 670. After the processing of Block 670, or when the test in Block660 has a negative result, control returns to Block 600, and theiteration though table 400 continues.

FIG. 7 depicts logic that may be used when implementing the expirationprocessing that is performed in preferred embodiments when the IM usersends an outbound message. At Block 700, the outbound message is sent,as in the prior art. Block 710 indicates that the entry in table 400 islocated for each target recipient of the message (preferably, using aniterative approach whereby Blocks 710-740 are performed in turn for eachuser, although the iterative logic has been omitted from FIG. 7 in orderto emphasize the expiration processing itself). The last-sent-messagedate (column 420) in the row for this user or group is then updated tothe current date (and/or current time, as appropriate) at Block 720.Block 730 tests whether the expiration status (column 460) in this rowis set to expired. If so, the status is changed (Block 740) to active.In either case, the processing of FIG. 7 is then complete for this row.

FIG. 8 is similar to FIG. 7, but depicts logic that may be used whenimplementing the expiration processing that is performed in preferredembodiments when the IM user receives an inbound message. Accordingly,Block 800 represents receiving the message (and performing prior artprocessing thereof, such as displaying the message to the user). Block810 then locates the sender's entry (i.e., row) in table 400, and thelast-received-message date (column 440) in that row is updated to thecurrent date and/or time at Block 820. Block 830 tests whether theexpiration status (column 460) in this row is set to expired. If not,then no further expiration processing is needed, and FIG. 8 is exited.Otherwise, processing continues at Block 840.

Blocks 840-850 pertain to rows having an expired status in column 460.In preferred embodiments, Block 840 tests whether the IM user whoreceived this inbound message has enabled the automatic revival functiondescribed above with reference to elements 235 and 236 of FIG. 2. If so,the status in this row is changed (Block 850) to active. Otherwise, thestatus remains set to expired. In either case, the processing of FIG. 8is then complete for this row.

As has been demonstrated, the present invention provides advantages overprior art IM systems, which may have significant processing overhead.The techniques disclosed herein are more efficient than prior arttechniques, and are easy for the IM user to understand, configure, anduse.

It should be noted that while preferred embodiments of the presentinvention have been described with reference to IM systems, thedisclosed techniques may be leveraged by other status-aware applicationsor systems and/or other systems that provide functions such as presence.Furthermore, while preferred embodiments are described with reference toan IM system's “address book”, this term is used as a shorthandreference to any data structure or structures with which an IM client isable to remember the users and/or user groups with which it has engaged,or will engage, in instant messaging.

The disclosed techniques may also be used advantageously in methods ofdoing business, for example by providing improved management of users inan IMS. As an example of how this may be provided, a service may beoffered that (1) evaluates, for an IM client user, which of the usersremembered by the IM client should be treated as expired; and (2)provides, for the IM client, an indication for those users which are tobe treated as expired. Typically, a fee will be charged for carrying outthe evaluation and providing the indication. The fee for this improvedmanagement may be collected under various revenue models, such aspay-per-use billing, monthly or other periodic billing, and so forth.

As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art, embodiments of thepresent invention may be provided as methods, systems, or computerprogram products. Accordingly, the present invention may take the formof an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment, oran embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, thepresent invention may take the form of a computer program product whichis embodied on one or more computer-readable storage media (including,but not limited to, disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, and so forth)having computer-readable program code or instructions embodied therein.

The present invention has been described with reference to flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams usable in methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer program instructions. These computer program instructions,which may be stored on one or more computer-readable media, may beprovided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purposecomputer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processingapparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, whichexecute via the processor of the computer or other programmable dataprocessing apparatus, create computer-readable program code means forimplementing the functions specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in acomputer-readable memory that can direct a computer or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readablememory produce an article of manufacture including instruction meanswhich implement the function specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer orother programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series ofoperational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmableapparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that theinstructions which execute on the computer or other programmableapparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in theflowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

While the preferred embodiments of the present invention have beendescribed, additional variations and modifications in those embodimentsmay occur to those skilled in the art once they learn of the basicinventive concepts. Therefore, it is intended that the appended claimsshall be construed to include preferred embodiments and all suchvariations and modifications as fall within the spirit and scope of theinvention.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A system for managing user information inan instant messaging (“IM”) system, comprising: a computer comprising aprocessor; and instructions which are executable, using the processor,to perform functions comprising: determining, for an IM client that isoperably connected to the IM system, each of a plurality of usersrecorded in an IM address book for the IM client, the recorded usersbeing those users who are remembered for the IM client; determining, forthe IM client, whether any of the plurality of users remembered for theIM client should be treated as expired due to absence of communicationwith the IM client; and improving computational efficiency of thecomputer when performing a presence detection function of the IM system,the presence detection function configured to determine current presencestatus of remembered users on behalf of the IM client, comprising: foreach one of the plurality of users for whom the determining determinesthat the user is to be treated as expired, omitting this user as aremembered user when the presence detection function determines thecurrent presence status, but not deleting this user from the pluralityof users remembered for the IM client, the omitting comprising notperforming the presence detection function to determine the currentpresence status of this user; and including all others of the pluralityof users as remembered users when the presence detection functiondetermines the current presence status.
 2. The system according to claim1, wherein the determining uses expiration criteria selected by a userof the IM client to determine whether any of the users remembered forthe IM client should be treated as expired.
 3. The system according toclaim 1, wherein the determining compares a first date when an instantmessage last arrived from each particular one of the users rememberedfor the IM client to a second date selected by a user of the IM clientto determine whether any of the users remembered for the IM clientshould be treated as expired.
 4. The system according to claim 1,wherein the determining comprises at least one of: determining whetheran instant message last arrived from each particular one of the usersremembered for the IM client more than a specified length of time beforea current time to determine whether any of the users remembered for theIM client should be treated as expired; and determining whether aninstant message was last sent by a user of the IM client user to eachparticular one of the users remembered for the IM client more than aspecified length of time before a current time to determine whether anyof the users remembered for the IM client should be treated as expired.5. The system according to claim 1, wherein the determining compares afirst date when an instant message was last sent by a user of the IMclient to each particular one of the users remembered for the IM clientto a second date selected by the IM client user to determine whether anyof the users remembered for the IM client should be treated as expired.6. The system according to claim 1, wherein the determining is performedby analyzing expiration information for each presently-unexpired one ofthe plurality of users remembered for the IM client upon occurrence of aconfigured interval.
 7. The system according to claim 1, wherein thedetermining and omitting are also performed for user groups rememberedfor the IM client.
 8. The system according to claim 1, furthercomprising at least one of: receiving an inbound message from aparticular one of the plurality of users remembered for the IM clientwho is being treated as expired, and in response, automatically treatingthe particular user as no longer expired, responsive to the receiving;and sending an outbound message from the IM client to a particular oneof the plurality of users remembered for the IM client who is beingtreated as expired, and in response, automatically treating theparticular user as no longer expired, responsive to the sending.
 9. Asystem for managing user information in an instant messaging (“IM”)system, comprising: a computer comprising a processor; and instructionswhich are executable, using the processor, to perform functionscomprising: determining, for an IM client that is operably connected tothe IM system, each of a plurality of users recorded in an IM addressbook for the IM client, the recorded users being those users who areremembered for the IM client; evaluating, for the IM client, which ofthe plurality of users remembered for the IM client are to be treated asexpired but not deleted from the plurality of remembered users;improving computational efficiency of the computer when performing an IMpresence detection function of the IM system, the presence detectionfunction configured to determine current presence status of rememberedusers on behalf of the IM client, further comprising: omitting each ofthe remembered users that are to be treated as expired as a remembereduser when the presence detection function determines the currentpresence status, but not deleting the each of the remembers users thatare to be treated as expired from the plurality of remembered users, theomitting comprising not performing the presence detection function todetermine the current presence status of this user; and including allothers of the plurality of users remembered for the IM client asremembered users when the presence detection function determines thecurrent presence status; and providing, for the IM client, a visualindication for each of the plurality of remembered users, where each oneof the plurality of remembered users that are to be treated as expiredbut not deleted from the plurality of remembered users is visuallyindicated differently from the all other ones of the plurality of usersremembered for the IM client.
 10. The system according to claim 9,wherein the different visual indication comprises moving names of theremembered users who are to be treated as expired to a folder structuredisplayed in one portion of a graphical user interface of the IM clientwhile displaying names of the all other ones of the plurality of usersremembered for the IM client in a different portion of the graphicaluser interface.
 11. A computer program product for managing userinformation in an instant messaging (“IM”) system, comprising: anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer readableprogram code embodied therein, the computer-readable program codeconfigured for: determining, for an IM client that is operably connectedto the IM system, each of a plurality of users recorded in an IM addressbook for the IM client, the recorded users being those users who areremembered for the IM client determining, for the IM client, whether anyof the plurality of users remembered for the IM client should be treatedas expired due to absence of communication with the IM client; andimproving computational efficiency of the computer when performing apresence detection function of the IM system, the presence detectionfunction configured to determine current presence status of rememberedusers on behalf of the IM client, comprising: for each one of theplurality of users for whom the determining determines that the user isto be treated as expired, omitting this user as a remembered user whenthe presence detection function determines the current presence status,but not deleting this user from the plurality of users remembered forthe IM client, the omitting comprising not performing the presencedetection function to determine the current presence status of thisuser; and including all others of the plurality of users as rememberedusers when the presence detection function determines the currentpresence status.
 12. The computer program product according to claim 11,wherein the determining uses expiration criteria selected by a user ofthe IM client to determine whether any of the users remembered for theIM client should be treated as expired.
 13. The computer program productaccording to claim 11, wherein the determining compares a first datewhen an instant message last arrived from each particular one of theusers remembered for the IM client to a second date selected by a userof the IM client to determine whether any of the users remembered forthe IM client should be treated as expired.
 14. The computer programproduct according to claim 11, wherein the determining comprisesdetermining whether an instant message last arrived from each particularone of the users remembered for the IM client more than a specifiedlength of time before a current time to determine whether any of theusers remembered for the IM client should be treated as expired.
 15. Thecomputer program product according to claim 11, wherein the determiningcompares a first date when an instant message was last sent by a user ofthe IM client to each particular one of the users remembered for the IMclient to a second date selected by the IM client user to determinewhether any of the users remembered for the IM client should be treatedas expired.
 16. The computer program product according to claim 11,wherein the determining comprises determining whether an instant messagewas last sent by a user of the IM client user to each particular one ofthe users remembered for the IM client more than a specified length oftime before a current time to determine whether any of the usersremembered for the IM client should be treated as expired.
 17. Thecomputer program product according to claim 11, wherein the determiningis performed by analyzing expiration information for eachpresently-unexpired one of the plurality of users remembered for the IMclient upon occurrence of a configured interval.
 18. The computerprogram product according to claim 11, wherein the determining andomitting are also performed for user groups remembered for the IMclient.
 19. The computer program product according to claim 11, furthercomprising: receiving an inbound message from a particular one of theplurality of users remembered for the IM client who is being treated asexpired; and automatically treating the particular user as no longerexpired, responsive to the receiving.
 20. The computer program productaccording to claim 11, further comprising: sending an outbound messagefrom the IM client to a particular one of the plurality of usersremembered for the IM client who is being treated as expired; andautomatically treating the particular user as no longer expired,responsive to the sending.